In Love and War
by KRiSTiNEDAHLiNG
Summary: It's 1968. She's taking care of their kids at home while he's fighting a war on another continent. SophieRogan, BalconyBuddy...
1. Chapter 1

This is a new story I've been toying with for quite a while. It's my usual Sophie but it takes place between 1943 and 1968. It's a love story with a lot of drama. At the beginning of the story Logan is an Army helicopter pilot currently deployed to Vietnam. Rory is at home with their three children just trying to live. She is a teacher at a small private school. Everything else you'll learn as we go. I hope you like it. In the beginning it's not as interesting as some may like but I had to do it so I could get to the romantic part. Without further ado here it goes…

Her alarm clock started to blare the same annoying beeping sound that it did everyday. She groaned. She hated that stupid clock. Logan had been the one to purchase it. He just had to have it. She should have put it in his bags before he left. She sighed. It had been 249 days since he had boarded a plane for Vietnam. It took her five more minutes before she could muster the energy to turn off the noisy contraption and get out of bed. She pulled on her robe before quietly making her way down the hall. She opened the door that was left to hers and couldn't help but smile. She walked over to where the small girl was sleeping and gently kissed her forehead. "Wakey wakey Lola, it's time to start your day."

The small girl moaned before opening her eyes. She was just like her mother in the fact that she hated waking up in the morning. "Morning Mommy…"

"I'm not leaving until you wake up and start getting dressed."

The little girl squirmed a little and then slowly sat up. She was going to be eight in four months. She had blonde hair like her father but eyes that were bluer than the bluest sea just like her mother. She rubbed her eyes and then smirked. "I'm up Colonel."

"Haha Lola, you have thirty minutes to get ready." Rory told her oldest child before leaving the room. She then moved onto the easiest child to wake up. She walked into the room and smiled. "Teddy Bear it's time to wake up."

The young boy sat up. His small smile showed that he was missing four of his teeth. "The Red Sox play the Orioles today. I bet Yaz has at least two hits."

Rory simply nodded and took that as her cue to leave. Her son was obsessed with the Red Sox. It had a lot to do with the fact that her husband named Teddy after Ted Williams, his favorite player. She had given it to him because he had let her name Lola Lorelai Elizabeth. The only child that they named together was Teddy's twin sister Kennedy Rose. It was a weird name but it was fitting. She was their little journalist. She knocked on her daughter's door and found her sitting in front of the mirror pretending to be interviewing Aretha Franklin. Last Christmas Logan had bought her a little microphone. It was her favorite gift that year. "Hey Kennedy you're going to have cut your interview with Aretha short because it's time for you to get dressed."

"But she was just about to do an exclusive performance for me." Kennedy said in her small six year old voice. She had Rory's spunk and intellect and even her mother's looks. People always awed when they sorry Rory and Kennedy together. "Oh but I guess it can wait until after school."

"It'll have to sweetie. Tell Aretha I said I'm sorry." She went down to her kitchen where her housekeeper had already started breakfast. "Buenos dias Rosario." She greeted the woman that had been with her family since Lola's first checkup. She sipped the cup of coffee that Rosario had put on the table for her and felt her soul sigh. There was nothing like the morning's first cup of coffee.

"Morning Rory, are all of the bebés awake?"

"Yep even my little drama queen Lola."

Lola dramatically walked into the room. "Did I hear my name?"

Rosario laughed. "Why Lolita are your ears burning?"

Lola ignored the comment and sat down at the table. She said gracias to Rosario as the woman put a bowl of cereal in front of her.

Rory finally looked up from her paper and shook her head. She looked at her daughter and laughed. "Lola what in the world are you wearing?"

Lola looked down at her clothes and smiled. "What?"

"You look like a gypsy." Rory pointed to the scarf that was holding her hair back. "Are you channeling a fortune teller today?"

"I'm wearing this getup to help me get into character. Today I audition for the role as Madam White, the local fortune teller in the school play "The Futures Always Brighter". It's one of the lead roles." Lola said after taking another bite of her toast. She then decided it didn't have enough jelly on it and smeared some more grape onto the already packed starch.

"I'm sure you'll get it." Rory assured her daughter.

Teddy was rereading the last letter his father had sent him as he walked into the room. Logan often wrote his only son about old games that he had seen at Fenway. Teddy read the letters at least a dozen times a day. Actually he read them so much that he often could tell you every line word for word without any help by the time the day was over.

"Teddy, muchacho, what do you want for breakfast?" Rosario asked sweetly.

Without even looking up from the paper Teddy replied "The usual."

Rosario placed two blueberry muffins that she had made earlier in the week on a plate for Teddy. She knew these three kids just as well as Rory did. She treated them as if they were her own children. She loved them the same way. "Here you go."

"Teddy, did you forget something this morning?" Rory asked. Teddy had a tendency to forget where he put his tie. She found herself always reminding him about it.

Once again Teddy didn't bother to look up from his letter. "It's in the backseat of the station wagon so I don't forget it."

Kennedy was the last one to join them for breakfast as always. She was always the last one to join them. She was also the only one to be completely ready for school when she sat down at the table. She ate the same breakfast as her mother two slices of bacon and a waffle. She also drank coffee like her mother except it was basically milk with two teaspoons of coffee in it. Still it made her feel grown up.

Rory sat there staring at her young children for at least five minutes. None of them realized. They were all caught up in themselves. It was moments like these that she struggled. Her husband had been fighting this complicated war for nearly a year and in that time her children had grown so much. She knew it was hard for him. His letters were mostly about how they were doing and how much he missed them. She wondered if he did that so he didn't have to focus on the war or if he did it because it was all he could think of. Either way it didn't make her miss him any less. When Logan had told her that he was going to go to West Point she had thought without question that he was out of his mind. It was 1955 and the Korean War had just ended. It had been the first year that her father hadn't been sent to a foreign country since 1947. Everybody was talking about nukes and Communism and he was talking about following in her father an Army Colonel and his father an Army General's footsteps. Still she had never even contemplated that it would have led to this. She was practically a single mother. She closed her eyes for a moment and remembered his smirk. Logan oh so cute smirk that made her weak in the knees.

Rosario untied her apron and then clapped her hands. "Give your mother a kiss and then it is time for us to hit the rode. We don't want to be late now do we?"

One by one Rory's precious kids kissed her softly on the cheek. She loved them so much. If it weren't for them and her job she didn't think she would get out of bed in the morning. After they left she got up from the table to get dressed. She put on her usual sweater and skirt. She kissed his picture before leaving the same way she did every morning. This was going to be her third year at St. Andrew's. It was a small private school that was filled mostly with children whose fathers were presently in Vietnam. She had been working there since Logan had been transferred to Ft. Detrick. She loved it even though it was small.

She walked into her small classroom where she taught three classes a day. Two of them were World History and the other was Civics. She was the only female teacher in the history department. She scrawled topic for today's discussion on the board and then sat down and waited for her day to begin.

Sister Mary Diane was in the middle of disciplining one of her two hundred pupils when her phone began to ring. She immediately was alarmed when she heard who it was. She quickly pushed the intercom button. "Mrs. Huntzberger?"

Rory was in the middle of discussing why the Roman Empire failed when she heard Sister Mary Diane's voice on the intercom. She could tell that the older woman was worried. "Yes Sister?"

"I need you to come down to my office immediately you have a phone call."

Rory quickly stood up. She never got phone calls at school. If something was going on with the kids they called Rosario at home. It hit her that something might have happened to Rosario. "I'll be back in two minutes continue to ponder the downfall of the Roman Empire. I want everyone to have a flaw figured out by the time I return and I want them all to be different." She then left the classroom and hurried down to the office.

"Go ahead and go back to class Mr. Sullivan but if I find out that you are still giving Mr. Ferguson's substitute a hard time then I am going to have to contact your mother and you know she doesn't need any extra stress right now." Sister Mary Diane threatened before dismissing the boy. She had a feeling that Rory would need some privacy.

Rory picked the phone up off of Sister Mary Diane's desk rather timidly. "This is Mrs. Huntzberger."

"Rory its Mitchum."

Her heart began to pound fast. Mitchum wouldn't be the one to call her about Rosario. She had a feeling she wasn't going to like the reason he was calling. "Oh hello Mitchum. I don't mean to seem rude but I was in the middle of a class. Is everything okay?"

Mitchum struggled to maintain his composure. He didn't want to have to call her at work but he knew she had to know. She had to know before the press got a hold of the story. "Not so much actually Rory. I've got bad news."

"Go ahead…" Rory said. By now she was steeling herself for the worst. The worst being that Logan had been shot down in combat and was dead.

Mitchum took a deep breath. "Yesterday Logan was shot down while on a mission. The good news is he's not dead. The bad news is that he's currently a prisoner of war. That's all we know as of right now." Mitchum felt tears spring to his eyes. His only son who had bravely found in his footsteps we currently a P.O.W. It was so hard for him to accept. It had taken him twenty minutes before he was able to call Rory to let her know.

She wasn't sure what say or do. Her knees suddenly went weak and then she hit the floor.

So you read the whole thing? What did you think? Let me know by leaving me a review. I want to know if there are other people who think this is an interesting premise. Thank you for giving it a chance. I'll update this as soon as I can.


	2. Chapter 2

His headache was killing him. He felt like he had just been run over by a truck. He had been trying to open his eyes for the last hour but was finding that it took too much energy. He sighed and tried again. This time he was successful. It took a lot of concentration to keep them open. He looked around the room trying to figure out where he was. He thought back to the last thing he remembered. He ejected out of his chopper. He landed in shallow water. He'd broken at least one of his legs and probably a couple of ribs. His body ached in a way he'd never imagined before. He thought the people were going to help them but one of the men hit him in his broken leg with their gun. The pain was so bad that he had blacked out. He imagined then that he was in a Viet Cong hospital and was probably a prisoner of war. He looked at the man in the bed beside him and noticed that he was sleeping. He looked as though he was knocking on death's door. He wondered if he looked that bad. It was becoming harder and harder to keep his eyes open. Just as he was about to close them an old Vietnamese soldier came and started to talk to him.

"Do you know where you are?" He asked. His breath was rank and smelled of stale beer and cheap cigars. Though he had a thick accent it was clear that he was educated.

He opened his mouth to speak and found that it hurt. His throat was dry. He gulped trying to make it hurt less. He decided then that he would choose his words wisely. "No."

The man nodded as if expecting that answer. "You are in Hanoi, which is in Northern Vietnam; you are a Prisoner of War. Right now we are treating you for injuries sustained while doing your terrorist missions."

If he had the energy he would have done something. He wouldn't have just laid there and let the man insinuate he was a criminal. He couldn't muster the energy though so instead he just laid there. "Oh."

"Is there anything you want to tell me? Is there anything you want to say that would make your time here easier? If you give me the information I am looking for you may find that this isn't as bad of a place as you have heard." The man put the offer on the table even though he knew the young man wouldn't take it. He wasn't weak enough yet. He wasn't desperate enough.

"My name is Logan Huntzberger. I am a Captain in the United States Army. My serial number is 010-75-8896."

The man nodded as he jotted some notes onto his little pad. "Okay Captain what are the names of your superiors."

It had taken Logan so much energy to say the first part. Still he knew if he didn't say it again the man would think he was actually considering his offer. "My name is Logan Huntzberger. I am a Captain in the United States Army. My serial number is 010-75-8896."

The man shook his head. He was expecting to be stonewalled. "Are you going to tell me the names of your superiors Captain or am I just wasting my time here?"

"My name is –" Logan started.

"Fine, fine, you think about my question for now and save your energy. I'll be back tomorrow." The man interrupted. He closed his little book and then walked away. He whispered something to a young Vietnamese woman who was presently folding rags. Then he left as suddenly as he came.

Logan closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He didn't want to think of his present situation he just couldn't. He started to think of Rory, Lola, Teddy, and Kennedy but found that too hard also. He knew that Rory was probably worried sick and that the kids probably didn't understand. Instead he decided to just go to sleep instead. It didn't take any energy to sleep.

Rosario walked into Rory's room and found the young sitting on her bed pouring over old photo albums. One of the nun's at the school had called and asked her to pick up Rory. She had never seen the younger woman so devastated before. As soon as Rory walked into the house she asked Rosario to pick the kids up from school later and to handle them for the rest of the day. "Rory are you going to come down for dinner. The kids wanted me to ask."

Rory looked at her housekeeper and sighed. She wasn't in the mood to eat. She also wasn't in the mood to face them right now. She knew that the second she faced them she would also have to explain why Daddy wouldn't be home when he originally said he would and why he wouldn't be able to write as much anymore. "I just I can't."

Rosario nodded. "I understand. I'll tell them you're not feeling well."

"Thank you Rosario."

Rosario quietly closed the door behind her. She couldn't imagine what Rory was going through right now.

Rory looked back down at her photo album and then sighed. She picked the phone up from off of Logan's bedside table and then dialed a familiar number. She didn't know what she would do if the person she was calling didn't answer.

"Hayden Residence," A person said in an overly cheerful tone.

"Hi Denise, its Rory, is my mother there?" She didn't think she would be able to get up in the morning if she didn't talk to her mother. She just needed her right now. She was the only person she could think of that had gone through something like this.

"She sure is Rory give me a second she's actually watching television right now." Denise put the phone down and then retrieved Lorelai who was watching the news. "Lorelai Rory is on the phone."

Lorelai nodded and picked up the living room phone extension. "Hi Rory."

"Hi Mom…"

Lorelai started to worry the second she heard Rory's defeated tone. Her mind started to race trying to figure out what had happened. Was it one of the kids? Was it Rosario? Or even worse was it Logan? "What has happened Rory?"

Rory sniffled a little. She willed herself to not start sobbing on the phone. She just found it so hard to utter the words. She couldn't even be the one to explain the situation to Rosario. The nuns had to do it for her. "Mitchum called me today. He wanted to be one to tell me that Logan was shot down and has now been classified as a Prisoner of War. My husband is a Prisoner of War."

Lorelai froze. She knew what that felt like. Christopher had been a Prisoner of War during World War II. Still it had been so different back then. War wasn't fought guerilla style the way it was now. He had been held in a prison camp for eleven months before the war was over and he was released. She had been so happy that he was in Europe when she found out what they did to Prisoners in Japan and the Philippines. "I'll be there in forty five minutes an hour tops."

"You don't have to Mom."

Lorelai turned the television off and got up from the couch. "Yes I do. You're my daughter and you need me right. I need to call your father, pack an overnight bag, and then I'll be on the road."

"Thank you."

"I'll see you soon Rory." Lorelai promised and then she hung up the phone.

Rory reached under her bed and pulled out an old shoe box. She set it down in front of her and just stared at it for a second. After a few minutes she lifted the lid and looked inside. She closed her eyes and dug out a note at random. She unfolded the sheet of paper slowly and smiled as soon as she read the first line. She could everything about the day she received this note. It was a knack. She could always remember days that had something to do with him.

_November 1st, 1959_

_Ace,_

_Right now you are sitting on your bed in your dorm room at Smith probably thinking that how happy you are that you didn't put off that paper on Caesar until today. How do I know this? Well it's simple. You see I know you. The hardest part of going to West Point is that unlike normal college aged boys I can't see my girlfriend every weekend or everyday if I chose so. It's hard not seeing you everyday or talking to you everyday. Being away from you everyday has made me realize even more how much I love you. Sometimes I wonder how I got lucky enough to get a girlfriend as amazing as you. I find myself thinking about you all the time as you can see. We've known each for sixteen years Ace. Can you believe that? If I can I am going to try and come see you the weekend after next. I don't know if it'll be possible but I am going to try. I have something I want to talk to you about. Well Ace I need to shine my shoes and get my room ready for inspection tomorrow. I'll call you on Wednesday. _

_All my love, Logan_

_p.s. Honor wants you to call her about your bridesmaid dress fitting. _

She refolded the letter and smiled. He did come visit her that next weekend but not before they got into a huge fight and she broke up with him. It had all been a misunderstanding. Her good friend Missy Webber had seen him eating lunch with some girl while she was up there visiting her brother David. Rory had been furious because Logan had told her he was too busy that weekend and wouldn't have time to spend with her. She'd assumed he was cheating on her. She broke up with him the following Wednesday when he called her just as he did every Wednesday. It took some convincing but Logan convinced his commanding officer to let him go see her. Well actually he convinced his commanding officer to let him go see his sister who had just had a baby. To this day he would tell you that he would have said anything to go see her that weekend. When he showed up outside her dormitory in the pouring rain she refused to see him. So he waited for an hour outside the room until Stephanie forced her downstairs. She walked outside and saw him standing there soak and wet in his uniform.

"_What do you want Logan. I thought I made it very clear that I didn't want to see you anymore." She said through clenched teeth. The nerve he had showing up here after breaking her heart. _

"_Rory you didn't let me tell you my side of the story. You didn't let me explain why Missy Webber saw me eating with some girl." Logan replied calmly. Still his voice was the only calm thing about him. Inside he was a total and utter mess. He hadn't felt this complicated ever._

_She closed her eyes and sniffled. She willed herself not to cry right here on the spot. She didn't want to let him see her cry. "Will you go away once you're done?"_

"_If after you hear my side you still want me to leave then I'll leave."_

_She looked at him for a moment and then sighed. "Go ahead."_

_He smiled weakly. "Last weekend I did have a girl come see me but before you interrupt it wasn't like that. The girl Missy saw me with was my cousin Annette. You remember Annette. She married the dentist. Anyway when my grandmother died she put Annette in charge of the estate because of her five grandchildren Annette was the only one with the time to keep track of everything. You see my grandmother left each of us one thing. She left me something very special. Annette came to visit me last weekend to give me my inheritance. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small black velvet box."_

_Rory couldn't believe her eyes or her ears. She felt terrible. "No…"_

_Logan had this deer in headlights look on his face. "No?"_

_Rory shook her head. "No it wasn't a no as in an answer no it was more a like no I'm in shock no. Anyway I couldn't say no because you have asked me a question."_

_Logan nodded furiously. "Oh right." He started to get down on knee but the ground was so soaked he just couldn't bring himself to do it. "Forgive me if I don't get down on one knee it's a little wet." He knew she wouldn't care but he decided he had to do this right. "What the hell." He said as he got down on one knee. He would definitely need to get his uniform dry cleaned while he was here. "Will you Lorelai Leigh Hayden marry me and become the woman who puts up with me for the rest of our lives?"_

_Rory started to cry. She couldn't help but smile. She sniffled a little and then nodded. "Of course I will. Oh my gosh…"_

_Logan slipped the antique engagement ring on her finger and smiled. It was a perfect fit just like he knew it would be. He stood up and kissed her. He kissed her like the world was going to stop turning if he didn't make it good. "I can't believe you said yes."_

"_I can't believe I broke up with you. I'm so sorry for jumping to conclusions." Rory hugged him tightly. "I can't wait to be your wife."_

She could still remember the warmth he emitted when he hugged her that day. The way his breath tickled her skin as he whispered in her ear later that night at dinner. She had never felt luckier. She started to pick out another letter but stopped when she heard the knock on the door. "Come in…"

Lorelai walked in with a glass bottle in a brown paper bag. She walked over to her daughter and softly kissed her on the forehead. "Rory before we start enjoying what I brought I think you should go tuck your kids in. I know it sounds impossible but you can't let yourself get wrapped in yourself. They matter to. Right now they're all you have."

"I don't know how to tell them."

Lorelai nodded. "You don't have to. Not yet anyway. Just go tell them goodnight. They already don't have a dad they can't lose their mom too." Lorelai paused. She smiled weakly. "That's what I did to you after you dad was captured. I sent you to boarding school and took up drinking in the afternoon. I know firsthand that is not the road you want to go down."

Okay so that was the update! I hoped you liked it! Review please. I was so excited to read all of your others. Oh and just in case you didn't realize italicize means its like a memory or a letter or something along those lines...


	3. Chapter 3

He woke up in the middle of the night when the pain became too intense. He pleaded with his legs for the burning to stop. He wasn't sure he could even move them at this point. He closed his eyes and whimpered a bit. Suddenly he felt someone standing over him. He stopped whimpering. He looked up and felt relieved when he realized it was the girl who had been folding rags earlier. She gently dabbed his forehead with a cold rag. He never thought a cold rag could make one person feel so much better. He wondered if she spoke English. He started to open his mouth and speak but decided not to. Instead he smiled as much as he could. She nodded and made her way back to her corner. He couldn't help but begin to wonder if Rory knew yet. He'd heard that sometimes it took them weeks to inform the family when someone was either killed, taken prisoner, or simply missing in action. He wondered if they had run a check on him yet. He knew they would be pleased when they found out that his father was Lieutenant General Mitchum Huntzberger. He guessed he would be a good bargaining chip. If only they knew that his being here wouldn't sway or scare Mitchum. His father was a man who was good at hiding his emotions. He willed himself to be his father for the rest of his time here. He would do it not only for himself, but for his father and his family. The pain in his leg subsided a bit and he found himself closing his eyes. It didn't take him much to remember the way his children looked in the last picture Rory had sent them. He loved his little family so much. He wished he could be with them right now. He felt guilty for not being there for Rory to help take care of their three rambunctious little ones. He silently said a prayer for them and then allowed the sleep to take over. He had a feeling they were going to be asking a lot of questions in the morning. He just hoped he could give the right answers.

Tequila burned her throat and made her cough. She had never been much of a drinker so she was pretty sure going straight to tequila was not her best choice. She looked at her mother and sighed. She felt so pathetic. "What was the first thing you did when you found out about Dad?"

Lorelai took a swig of tequila before answering. She had a feeling she would need liquor to make it through this conversation. "I poured myself a cup of bourbon with coffee and then I called your grandmother. You came home later and she was sitting there listening to me moan and groan. You walked into my bedroom and asked me what was wrong. I slurred that those damn Nazis had captured your father. You just started at me. Your little mouth was in a tight thin line. You didn't cry. You didn't do much of anything except nod and gently rub my back for a little while. Two weeks later when I dropped you off at boarding school with Logan you quietly told me that you understood and you loved me. That Christmas I tried to sober up for you but I was so miserable that it was nearly impossible. I entered rehab the next April. You decided to continue going to boarding school even though you could have come home. Your father was released that September." She released a ragged breath. "I always felt so bad about that year. I felt like I was always such a horrible mother. You just can't let yourself heal that way because it'll cause you more pain than you started with."

Rory knew that was such a hard time for her mother. She remembered not really knowing what was okay to say and not say. At the time she missed her father too but on the same note she realized it wasn't the same thing. She hadn't spent almost her entire life like this. She never imagined her heart could hurt that bad and now it was. "You did your best. Boarding school was good for me. It's where Logan and I fell in love. It's where I found a love in history."

"Well see you can never say booze didn't do anything for you." Lorelai joked lamely. She tried to remember what her mother told her that night. She was pretty sure her mother for the first in her life just sat there and listened. She just listened as Lorelai droned on and on about just about nothing. She didn't complain when Lorelai made jokes that she didn't find appropriate. No instead she just smiled and laughed. "Just know that he is going to miss you as much as you miss him."

"You know I thought the hardest thing we would ever go through was when he was going to West Point and I was going to Smith because we never got to see each other. We basically talked once a week and saw each on weekends. He used to write me these letters when he was supposed to be doing something in class. They were so sweet. I kept every last one of them."

"I didn't know that." Lorelai knew her daughter had been worried about him going to West Point. She remembered the day Rory announced Logan's plans like it was yesterday.

_Rory was silent as she sat down at the dinner table for dinner. Instead of eating she played with her food. She couldn't even bring herself to eat the pot roast. Rory didn't just like pot roast…she loved pot roast. _

_Lorelai curiously watched her daughter play with her meal. Rory was never one to mess around when it came to food. Especially not when it was going to be one of her last home cooked meals for at least a couple of months because she would be going back to school soon. She started to ask Rory what was the matter but the phone started to ring. She motioned for Christopher to be the one to answer it. _

"_Rory it's Logan." Christopher called from the hallway where the closet phone was. _

_Rory sighed. "Tell him I'll call him tomorrow."_

_Lorelai now understood why her daughter wasn't eating but was puzzled as to why Rory was suddenly in a fight with Logan. _

_Christopher poked his head into the room and looked at her surprised. "Are you sure?" _

_Rory nodded._

"_Logan she says she'll talk to you tomorrow." Christopher said slowly. He wasn't surprised when Logan didn't like that answer. "Okay I'll tell her." Christopher said and then hung up the phone. He walked back into the room and sat down at the table._

"_What did he say?" Rory asked quietly._

"_He said he's coming over in an hour to discuss everything with you." _

_Lorelai put down her fork. "What happened today?"_

_Rory sighed and ran her hand through her hair. "Uh well we were having a nice time discussing things and then he told me that he was going to West Point."_

"_And then what?"_

"_Well he just said that he had gotten his appointment and that he had decided to go. He told me that he would rather go there than Yale or Harvard. He got accepted to both. Still he wants to follow in his father's footsteps." Rory said as if it was the most preposterous thing she had ever heard._

_Christopher didn't understand his daughter's distaste. He himself was a West Point graduate and proud of it. "Why don't you want him to go to West Point?"_

"_Well first off we'll never get to spend time together really during college. We can't really date except for holidays. We can't get married until we graduate. Oh and then he has to serve for at least six years." Rory spit out. The truth was that she didn't mind that he wanted to go to West Point she was just scared that once he was done with his four years there he won't be so willing to be with her. "I mean we've seen each other nearly everyday for the last ten years." _

_Lorelai willed herself not to laugh. She couldn't believe that Rory thought that Logan would stop loving her. "Rory, fruit of my loins, I can promise you that West Point won't ruin your relationship. If anything it'll make it stronger. Plus think about the dances you get to go to. I loved going to dances with your father. Plus Smith isn't that far from West Point. The train ride would probably be an hour long."_

"_I'm telling Rory four years at West Point made me miss your Mom so much and made me want to marry her the first chance I got." Christopher remembered calling Lorelai every chance he got just to say I love you._

_Rory had at one point starting crying. She wiped her eyes with her sleeves. She knew they were right. Suddenly she felt stupid about doubting their love. "I overreacted didn't I?"_

_Lorelai laughed softly. "Yeah you kind of did."_

_As if on cue the doorbell rang. Rory smiled and got up from the table. She rushed to the door and smiled when she saw him standing on the other side. She stood there for a second just staring at him. _

"_Rory, I'm so sorry I made this decision without discussing it with you first. I just really want this." Logan felt bad about making her so angry. He had been with Rory so long and yet they fought so little. When they did fight he struggled with it. _

_Rory smiled a little and then kissed him softly on the lips. "I overreacted. I'm the one who should be sorry." She bit her lip a little and shrugged. "You want some pot roast?"_

_Logan smiled. "When do I turn down dinner with my favorite family, especially when they are serving pot roast?"_

_Christopher stood up when Logan walked into the room and shook his hand. "Congratulations Logan. I'm happy my future son in law is going to be a West Point man like myself. Mitchum must be thrilled."_

"_He sent me a telegram saying he'd never been more proud of me." A compliment like that was like giving Logan the keys to the city for Mitchum._

_Lorelai walked over and hugged the young man. "I'm very proud of you for getting your appointment. Then again we all knew you would get your appointment. West Point would never turn down the son of one of their most underachieving scholars."_

_Logan laughed. This was why he loved Rory's family. They were always warm and always bubbly. He couldn't wait to marry her and have them as in laws. _

Rory smiled. "I cherished those letters. I would reread them everyday like Teddy does now. I think he gets that habit from me. He would write to me about everything and nothing at the same time. Sometimes we would discuss nothing but what they were learning in his History of War class. He was the only one who had taken that course prior to the academy." Rory stopped talking. She felt like she was going on and on about nothing.

"Well at least you'll have them to get through the day." Lorelai told her softly. She looked at her daughter's hand and saw that was twisting her engagement ring around and around. "I still envy you for that rock."

Rory looked down and smiled. "You know all of his cousins were jealous that she gave it to him to give to me. I still can't believe his grandfather sent money to Ireland just to buy this for his grandmother. Can you?"

Lorelai shook her head. The story of Rory's engagement ring was definitely one that could be made into a movie. Then again so could the entire story of Logan's maternal grandparents. Aidan and Fallon Mulroney come to America from Ireland in the early 1900s. They lived a quiet life in Boston just managing to get by. Aidan wisely invested in a pub with a good friend and ended up making a good deal of money. After years of having a cheap wedding band he sent money to his sister in Ireland for her to buy the most beautiful set she could find for his wife of many years. When Fallon Mulroney died she left the ring set to Logan who gave it to Rory. "It's always going to be proof of his love and of his grandmother's faith that you two belonged together."

"That is why I am going to have faith that he is going to come home. He just has to." Rory said quietly as she stared at her ring. Slowly but surely tears began to fall from her eyes.

Lorelai hugged her daughter and quietly whispered words of faith in her daughter's ear. She knew that Emily would have been very proud.

Sorry it took me a couple of weeks to update. I hope you liked this chapter. I'm glad everyone is enjoying it so far. Please review. I love signing on and finding them waiting for me. You guys are the best!


	4. Chapter 4

Rory watched her three beautiful children make their way up the steps to their school. She found herself wishing that Logan could be there with her to see them. She blinked back the tears that were desperately trying to spring from her blue eyes. It had been two weeks since Mitchum's call and she was slowly learning to cope with the pain. She was returning to work next week. Today was her second day leaving the house. She sighed as she watched Kennedy make her way into the hallowed halls of St. Patrick's. After quickly wiping the tears that she had not been able to prevent from falling she pulled her car away from the school building and silently made her way back to her house.

Mitchum scanned the supply report that had been sitting on his desk when he first came in this morning. He found no flaws so he signed his name. Sometimes he found it utterly boring to work the kind of desk job that came with his rank. He often wished he could be on a ship helping the cause. Just as he was about to buzz Corporal Bishop to come and get the report there was a knock on his door. "Enter."

"Sorry to bother you General Huntzberger, Colonel Dietz sent me down here to give you this." The young man said rather nervously as he handed the respected officer the memo the Colonel had given him.

Mitchum looked at the memo curiously. "Thank you Corporal. Please give this report to Colonel Bishop before you make your way back upstairs. Tell him I need it to be delivered to Lt. Colonel Cain pronto." Mitchum instructed. Once the young soldier had left his office he picked up the memo and took a deep breath before reading it. He knew Dietz wouldn't have sent him this memo unless it had something to do with Logan. He assumed it was good news because Dietz would never send a Corporal to share bad news. Colonel Dietz was in charge of reviewing and keeping track of all Viet Cong propaganda. Mitchum took a deep breath and then proceeded to read the memo. He couldn't help but smile a little when he was finished. As soon as he was doing basking in the good news of the memo he picked up his phone and called the one person he knew needed news like this more than himself.

Rosario quietly sang to herself as she whipped up a batch of tamales for dinner. She was in an extremely good mood today for two reasons. One was Rory was finally reverting back to her usual coffee addicted state. The second was that Tristan Dugrey, Logan's best friend and confidante, was on his way here to visit for a while. Rory wasn't aware of this fact. Tristan loved to surprise Rory which drove Rory crazy. Rory wasn't big on unplanned events. Rory went crazy when she found out that she was pregnant with not just one unplanned child but two. She was humming when the phone started to ring. Before touching the phone she wiped her hands on her apron. "Huntzberger Residence."

"Good morning Rosario, this is Mitchum. Is my daughter in law there?" He asked rather cheerfully.

Rosario was caught off guard by how happy Mitchum sounded. She hadn't heard him sound this happy since he got his last promotion. She figured it must have been good news, very good news. "She's not back from dropping the kids off at school yet. Would you like me to take a message?"

"Uh do you know whether or not she'll be home soon?" Mitchum really wanted to share the news.

Rosario started to tell him that it shouldn't be much longer but then she heard Rory's car pull into the drive. "Actually she just pulled up. Let me get her for you." Rosario put the phone down and then rushed to the side door. "Hurry Rory Mitchum is on the phone for you."

Rory quickly shut her car door and then rushed to the phone. "Hi Mitchum."

Mitchum could tell just by the sound of her voice that she needed some good news right now. He couldn't be happier to be the one to give it to her. "Rory I've got good news considering the circumstances."

"Continue." Rory instructed anxiously. She started to bite her nails without even realizing it. It was a bad habit of hers that she took up whenever she was nervous about something.

"This morning a friend of mine Colonel Dietz shared some information with me. You see Colonel Dietz is in charge of reviewing and keeping track of all Viet Cong propaganda that is being created using American Prisoners of War." Mitchum paused to let her process all of the information he had just given her. "It appears Logan was interviewed by a French journalist sometime last week. The French have made the tape available to us. Colonel Dietz has set up a private screening for us in his office/screening room."

Rory smiled as tears of joy fell from her eyes. "So we actually get to see him? It's not just going to be a recording?"

"We get to see him." Mitchum assured her.

Rory let out a slight chuckle. "Just tell me when and where and we'll be there."

"The screening is at 11:30 on Friday. Just meet Shira and myself in my office and we'll all go up to Dietz room together."

"Thank you so much Mitchum. There is going to be enough room in there for me to bring the kids, Rosario, and myself right?"

Mitchum grinned. Rory always had to make sure all of the details were worked out so that she wouldn't to deal with any surprises. "There will be more than enough room for all of us."

"We'll see you on Friday. Send my love to Shira." Rory hung up the phone and looked at Rosario who was standing at the counter preparing dinner. "We're going to D.C. on Friday."

Rosario looked at her curiously. "Why?"

"Logan was taped doing this interview with a French reporter. They are going to make it available to us to view on Friday. The perks of having a General for a father in law and a Colonel for a father you know."

Rosario could tell that Rory was over the moon about all of this. "That is such good news. I know it'll make the kids day when they get home from school. I had a feeling that today was going to be a good day."

"You know I always thought the hardest thing Logan and I would ever go through would be not seeing each other everyday when he decided to go to West Point." She paused to let out a ragged sigh. "I never imagined we would go through something like this. I never imagined we would live like this."

"What do you mean?"

Rory bit her lip. "I knew Logan and I would have kids I just never imagined I would basically raise them more with you than I did him. You know he used to talk to my stomach every night while I was pregnant with all three of them. We used to talk about all of the things we would do as a family." Rory shook her head. "I don't know. We still have a lot of time. Logan is going to pull through this. He always pulls through everything. He's the luckiest bastard I know. Other than Tristan that is."

Rosario couldn't help but grin at the mention of Tristan's name. She knew he would make things easier for Rory. He was one of the few men who never tried to make a move on her. Him and Colin that is. "You should go and call your mother to tell her the good news."

"Fabulous idea Rosario!" Rory said as she made her way into her office so she could talk to her mom while she graded papers. She didn't have to look up her mother's phone number. She never did. She had memorized it a long time ago. She smiled when she heard her mother answer the phone instead of one of the housekeepers. "Does Denise have the day off?"

"That she does daughter of mine. To what do I owe a phone call from you?" Lorelai was in the middle of painting her toenails.

Rory smiled. She opened her mouth and started to tell her mother what was going on but then she heard someone ring the doorbell. "Two seconds." She told her mother and then she quickly made her way to the front door. It was going to be a test to just how far the cord could stretch. She smiled when she opened the door with the phone in her hand. She nearly dropped the phone though when she saw who was on the other side. "Tristan."

"Tristan!" Lorelai bellowed in a dubious tone.

"Mom I'm going to have to call you back." Rory said and then she dropped the phone letting it retract all the way back to her office. "Tristan."

"Rory. Are we past this shock moment?" Tristan joked. He had a feeling this would be a fun visit. He loved surprising Rory. He loved it almost as much as he loved spending time with Rory's husband and her son Teddy.

Thank you for reading. I hope you liked it. I know there weren't really any fluffy memories but I thought it was pretty good. I thought most of you would get a kick out of it. Tristan is back but this isn't going to be a Trory. I am too big of a fan of Logan's smirk to make this a Trory. Anyway thank you for reading. Review and I'll update as soon as possible.


	5. Chapter 5

"What are you doing here?" Rory couldn't believe Tristan was actually sitting across from her. "Your last letter said you were headed to Brazil as soon as your tour was up."

"Do you remember what I told you at the rehearsal dinner?"

Rory paused and thought back to that night. It was a bit fuzzy. "Not really."

Tristan smiled. "I promised you that I would always be there for you if Logan couldn't be. I keep my promises." He watched her for a moment. He knew that she was trying to seem okay for the sake of her children and everyone around her, but he could tell that on the inside she was struggling to contain her emotions.

Rory smiled at the memory.

_Tristan stood up with a champagne bottle in one hand instead of the typical glass. He was tipsy to say the least. You could tell that he might fall over any moment in the way he swayed back and forth. If it had been anyone else Rory would have been terribly embarrassed, but this was Tristan. This is why she loved him. "I'd like to make a toast to two of my oldest friends. To Logan, whose friendship has been unwavering even when I've been an ass, a drunk, or just my usual self. To Rory, who's put up with me for all these years even though I've broken some of her friends' hearts, been ass, and basically as I said before been myself. When Logan told me that he was going to propose I was ecstatic. I told him he better do it quick before Rory realizes she's too good for him. I just want you both to know that you can count on me. Rory I'll always be there for you if Logan can't. Logan I'll always be there for her if you can't. I love you both almost as much as you love each other." Tristan finished his toast with a swig of champagne straight from the bottle and then he promptly sat back down and fell asleep. _

_Rory looked at Logan with tears in her eyes. "He is quite the ass sometimes." _

_Logan just laughed. "Just remember he's not just anyone's ass, he's our ass." Logan joked. He looked over at his friend who was now lightly snoring. It was good to know he could count on Tristan to be there for Rory. He had a feeling that there were going to be times when he just couldn't be there for her. "I love you Ace."_

"_I love you too Lieutenant." Rory then gently kissed him on the lips. _

"You were quite drunk that night. I can't believe you remember almost anything you said. If you recall that same night you proceeded to hit on Paris, who was already married and three months pregnant." Rory laughed at the memory of Tristan asking Paris to make him whole.

Tristan did recall that part quite vividly. Paris had done exactly what Paris did and launched into a tirade about not wanting to be sexually harassed while pregnant and celebrating the union of one of her dearest friends. "You would be shocked if you knew just how much I can remember from the nights when I pass out. I think it's a gift. How is Paris by the way?" Tristan felt like he had missed so much while in Vietnam.

"She's fine. She's working again. She probably is moving back to Connecticut in a few months because Clayton is supposed to go back over there. She doesn't like Texas when he's not there." Rory was often shocked at how many of her closest friends either were in Vietnam or had a spouse there. She supposed it had to due a lot with the fact that they were all the children of soldiers who went on to marry soldiers. None of her friends had been drafted. Almost all of them were in before the war and a few had joined after it started. "How did you find out?"

"I bumped into your father in a bar two days before I was returning stateside. He was reluctant to tell me, because he thought I might do something extreme like volunteer to stay there in case there was a rescue mission or something. He was justified in doing so, because I was weary about leaving without doing something to help Logan. Then I remembered my promise. Anyway you should know your father is doing everything he can to help Logan get out of there."

"I just...I worry about him all the time. I'm just worried about how they are treating him and what they are doing to him." Rory admitted softly. She had heard stories about torture. One of the students in her class, Susanna Grayson, her father had recently been released from a P.O.W. camp. He was going to need extensive surgery to repair his shoulders and required a cane to get around. She was afraid that Logan would return in if not the same condition then worse.

Tristan moved over to where she was sitting and gently rested his hand on hers the way he had seen Logan do so many times before. "You can't think about that right now. You'll go crazy. It's mental torture." Tristan knew about the stories of torture and he was sure that Logan was not an exception.

His knee was throbbing from where one of the Viet Cong had hit him the night before. He bit his bottom lip that night so hard that it had started to bleed. He didn't want to give them the satisfaction of knowing they were hurting him. He looked down at his hands and realized that they had never been so dirty before. He looked around the dark room they had dropped him in after refusing to answer their questions. He noticed someone was sitting the corner praying. When the man was done he spoke up. "What'd you pray for, if you don't mind me asking?"

"For my wife to have an easy delivery. She's due any day now."

Logan remembered how nerve wracking it was for the baby to finally be born. "All of three of mine were four days late." Logan closed his eyes for a second and remembered how crazed Rory was that day she gave birth to Lola.

"_She hates me already." Rory groaned as she lay in bed trying to get cool. She was wearing nothing but a thin nightgown. Of course she had to be pregnant during the middle of the summer. She looked over at Logan who looked comfortable and was reading a manual for his new aircraft. _

_Logan didn't bother taking his eyes off of the manual. Rory had been saying this four the last week and a half. "She doesn't hate you Rory. She just isn't ready to be born yet."_

"_Easy for you to say, you didn't gain twenty eight pounds and lose the ability to see your feet." Rory huffed. She had been complaint free for most of her pregnancy but she could keep her mouth shut no longer. She was miserable. It was hot. She was late. She just wanted to go into labor. "I love you Logan, but I refuse to have any more children after Lola. I can' and won't do it."_

_Logan smirked. "Okay Ace, if you only want to have one child that's fine with me. Like you said I'm not the one who gains weight, loses the ability to see my feet, or has to sit in the miserable heat unable to get cool." Logan kissed her gently on her forehead and then her stomach. "I'm just the one who doesn't get any for six weeks after the birth." _

_Rory flashed him an evil grin. "You'll be lucky if you get any ever again." Her wicked grin disappeared when she realized she needed his help to get out of bed. "Will you help me out of bed?"_

"_Are you going to hold out on me for the rest of our marriage?" _

"_No." _

_Logan sighed and walked over to her side of the bed. He grabbed her arm and rolled her out of bed. "Where are you going?"_

"_I just want a bowl of ice cream." Rory explained. She could at least count on ice cream to cool her down a bit. _

"_You want me to get it for you?" Logan offered. _

_Rory shook her head. "You just go back to your manuals. It'll only take me a minute."_

_Logan was in the middle of a paragraph when he heard Rory shriek. He quickly hopped out of bed and ran down the hall to the kitchen. "What's the matter?"_

_Rory looked down at the flow which was now wet. "It's time."_

"_Your water just broke?"_

"_My water just broke." Rory confirmed. "Oh my god Logan we're going to be parents."_

_Logan smiled and then kissed her forehead. "You're a little late on that observation Rory. Nine months and four days to be exact." He ran down the hall to get her bag which was by the door waiting just like all of the books said it should be. He grabbed her robe off of the bed along with his t-shirt. It was time to meet his little girl. _

"Is it hard?" The shadowed man asked quietly.

"Which part the delivery or the part where you become responsible for this little person?"

"Both."

Logan laughed and found that it hurt. He made a note not to laugh until his ribs had healed up. "My wife tells me the delivery is terrible, but it's easy for guys. The after part is a little intimidating. You'll love the baby the moment you see it. You'll instantly be ready to protect it from anything and everything." Logan explained.

"I'm Edgar, Edgar Grey. I've been in Vietnam for five months and in here for four of those five." Edgar had been in this room all by himself for nearly all of those four. He felt like having a roommate was as close to a blessing as you were going to get in a hell hole like this.

"Logan, Logan Huntzberger. I've been here for eight and a half months. I was in the hospital for two weeks. What are you?"

"I'm a Marine and from the way your wounds look I'm going to say you are an Army helicopter pilot."

"You can tell that from my wounds?" Logan wondered if that ability was a side effect from being in this place for so long.

"No, actually they made an announcement about catching another Air Pirate a couple of weeks ago and I put two and two together. I had you going there though didn't I?" Edgar had missed joking with someone.

Logan shook his head and closed his eyes. He had a feeling he was going to like rooming, or as he preferred to call it squatting, with Edgar.

Thanks for reading! Sorry it took so long to update. I hope you liked it. I thought there was plenty of Rogan goodness for you to enjoy. Please review. I love them!


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I don't own Gilmore Girls, but if I had Lorelai would have ended up with Christopher and Rory wouldn't have let Logan get away.

Rating: PG

Author's Note: I want to apologize for not getting this out to your sooner. I hope ya'll like it.

"_My name is Logan Huntzberger, I am a Captain in the United States Army, my serial number is 010-75-8896, and I was born on April 10, 1938." Logan replied in the steadiest voice he could muster. _

"_Okay well Captain Huntzberger my name is Jean-Laurent Mathieu and I'm just going to ask you a few questions." Jean-Laurent was trying to pretend he wasn't disgusted to be here in this moment. He could tell that the young man was in a lot of pain and wasn't receiving adequate care. "Would you like a cigarette?" _

_Logan, not normally a smoker, decided to take the other man up on his offer thinking that maybe it would help take his mind off of his legs which were throbbing. "Yes, please."_

_He nodded and pulled one out of his shirt pocket and handed it to him. He lit it and then asked his first question. "Is it true you have given the names of your superiors?"_

_Logan hesitated and then nodded. _

"_Please voice all of your answers." Jean-Laurent instructed._

"_It's true." _

"_Would you please list them for me?"_

_Logan hesitated again. "My superiors are as follow:, John Paveskovich, Preston York, Glen Russell, George Metkovich, Robert Doerr, and Teddy Williams." _

"_Okay, is there anything you would like to say to your family?" Jean-Laurent offered even though he knew that the Viet Cong wouldn't like it. He thought it was better a cigarette._

"_If you guys are watching this I want you all to know that I love you all very much. I have faith in myself and the United States military that I will get out of here. I will do everything I can to come home to you Oh and Rory remember sixteen reasons." Logan did his best to smile for them. He raised his arm which felt like it was being held down by weights and waved a little at the camera._

The screen went black. Rory sat there not really sure what to say. She was almost positive that Logan wasn't supposed to hand out names like that. She looked down the row and found that Mitchum, Tristan, and Teddy were all smiling. She found this especially puzzling as from the looks of it did Shira.

"Mitchum darling are you alright?" Shira asked cautiously.

Mitchum blinked and looked at her. "Of course I am, why wouldn't I be?"

"Well I may be wrong but didn't Logan just go against the Military Code of Conduct?" Shira seemed to struggle with the sentence.

"No, no he didn't. He simply listed part of the starting lineup for the 1948 Boston Red Sox." Mitchum explained and then let out a hearty laugh. When Logan said it's true to the question he felt his stomach drop and it wasn't until he said Robert Doerr that he realized his son was in fact not helping the Viet Cong but instead misleading them. He felt guilty that he had even doubted his son for a second. "Logan did just as he was expected to do. He evaded the enemy. They just don't know it yet."

Rory let out a sigh of relief and then found herself quietly humming the song "Sixteen Reasons".

_She walked into her dorm room and smiled at the sight of a new letter sitting on her bed. She dropped her stuff onto her desk and quickly opened it. She didn't have to even look at the envelope to know who it was from. _

_Dear Rory, _

_It's a Sunday and I'm sitting in my dorm room trying to study for an exam I have in the morning but as usual you are the only thing on my mind. I read a paragraph and think of you. I should tell you that I was actually doing okay until a song came on the radio that reminded me of you. It's called "Sixteen Reasons" and it's by Connie Stevens. None of that really matters as much as the lyrics. I called another station and requested it just so I could copy down the lyrics for you. Here it goes._

_(Sixteen reasons)  
Why I (why I) love you_

(One) the way you hold my hand  
(Two) your laughing eyes  
(Three) the way you understand  
(Four) your secret sighs  
They're all part of sixteen reasons why I (why I) love you

(Five) the way you comb your hair  
(Six) your freckled nose  
(Seven) the way you say you care  
(Eight) your crazy clothes  
That's just half of sixteen reasons why I (why I) love you

(Nine) snuggling in the car  
(Ten) your wish upon a star  
(Eleven) whispering on the phone  
(Twelve) your kiss when we're alone

(Thirteen) the way you thrill my heart  
(Fourteen) your voice so neat  
(Fifteen) you say we'll never part  
(Sixteen) our love's complete  
Those are all of sixteen reasons why I (why I) love you

(Sixteen reasons)  
Why I (why I) love you

_I miss you terribly Rory. I can't wait to see you next weekend to pick out cakes and a venue. It feels like it's been forever since the last time my lips touched yours. Tristan managed to get around working next weekend so he'll be able to try cakes with us as will Colin. Both want to know if this is a non-alcoholic event. I can imagine the look on your face right now. Your probably have a half smile going. The same half smile you always get whenever they ask crazy questions like that. I know Paris will be there. Well I better get back to studying or attempting to study I should say. I love you and I miss you. Remember no matter where you are or what you are doing when you hear the song or the phrase sixteen reasons that it's my song to you. _

_All of my love, Logan_

_She let herself fall backwards onto the bed with a wistful sigh. He really knew her to make her weak in the knees. She read the letter at least six more times until she knew for fact that it was committed to her memory and then she placed it back into it's envelope and neatly placed it in her special box along with all of the others. She looked at the calendar on the wall and smiled. Only four more months until they would be husband and wife and then they would be able to spend the rest of their lives together. _

I know it has been twelve years since I last updated. Things have been crazy. I graduated high school. I'm going to college. I'm juggling a million things. Anyway for some reason I just had to update this one. I will try to start working on the others as well. Thank you to those who didn't give up on me. Oh and thanks for every review I've gotten. Please review. Please? I think I just might be able to crank out another chapter this weekend, but no promises. Love ya'll. KRiSTiNE.


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